Amateur Lent

I haven't given up anything for lent in years! Like, jr. high school days. Why? Well, I'm not catholic, and I always thought of it as a Catholic thing. This year I'm going to do it.

But where to start? Sooooo many vices, only willing to give up one.

One of my vices is time management. Or lack thereof. For example, I don't have daily devotinal time, or quiet time, because I never have the time. However....I do spend alot of time doing stuff I don't need to do, that although isn't bad for me, it does gobble up time I could be using in prayer. And reflecting. Listening, even.

So this year, I'm giving up Facebook for 40 days. ARGH!!! I'm freaking out just thinking about it!!! Looking at those words is just soooo wrong. Can you say ADDICT??? What will become of my facebook farm? ARGH! And my buddies from Texas I only talk to via FACEBOOK. I'm so totally freaking out. I need to go binge...I'll be back. You can count on that, since I won't be facebooking......WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

FAIR WARNING

OK. As far as the kids go, I don't know who has what. We've been passing around a stomach virus...I think we're though with that. My husband, oldest son and yougest son did not get it. Everyone else did. Now we have this crud with "flu-like symptoms". (doesn't everything have flu-like symptoms?) Ben has had fever since yesterday with a drippy nose. I'm in bed with what my awesome doctor called "acute tracheal bronchitis". I guess it's not broncheal bronchitis?? What does that mean? What the difference? In any case he was fairly certain it wasn't the flu because I didn't have a fever. Anyway, Lizzie has been wilting throughout the day, her nose dripping and eyes glazing. My husband just came in and told she now has a fever. Abby seems fine, although she apparently is still having residual gas from the stomach virus. Man, keep your distance, she will knock you out! Anyway, I say all that to say this....stay away. For your own health and the health of your children, stay away. And while you're away, pray for us. If my husband gets sick, it'll be mob rule here.

Interview With A Three Year Old Boy.

Here is a brief interview I conducted today during bath time:


Me: Hey Sam-what is your favorite color?
Sam: Umm...Yellow and blue and green...I like all the colors.
Me: What is your favorite animal?
Sam: DINOSAURSES! and Bears. and FISHIES!

(At this point in the interview, Sam began splashing water into the air and singing about rain.)

Me: Do you like the rain?
Sam: YEAH!
Me: Why do you like the rain?
Sam: We can play in it!
Me: What is...
Sam: and we can play in the MUD!
Me: Oh, yeah? Well, what is...
Sam: Mud is sand (pronounced Say-und) and water.
Me: Why do you like mud?
Sam: It's squishy squashy.
Me: What is the best part about rain?
Sam:We get to wear our RAINCOATS!!!

Great Song

Sometimes a song comes on the radio and it's like someone has been peeking into your soul. Here's mine.

Wounded

OK. Several posts back I talked about some books I purchased with my Christmas cashola. One of the books I bought on that lovely afternoon was Wounded by her Royal Awesomeness,Claudia Mair Burney. (I love her, just so you know.)I knew Wounded would be good because, well, Ms. Burney wrote it. I've loved, loved, LOVED everything else she has written, so I was expecting a groovy read. What I was not expecting, however, was to be moved to tears throughout the book. I confess, I cry pretty easily watching sappy movies, no matter how many times I've seen them. I may get misty reading a touching story, particularly stories that involve children. But that's not the kind of crying we had here at Roberts Ranch y'all. I bawled like a baby! Rubbing my eyes, sobbing, snotting all over myself, crying. Why? This book is about suffering.

"Oh, really? A book titled Wounded is about suffering?Hmmmm..who'd have thought?"

Yea,yea, I know. I knew it was about that kind of suffering, the wounds of Christ suffering. I didn't know it was about suffering that I would relate to as I did. Regular suffering. Common everyday suffering that everyday people experience. Rejection. Abandonment. Sickness. Pain. Despair. Fear. Depression. We've all been there, haven't we? To some degree. Some more than others. That's the kind of suffering we see in Wounded. But we also see hope. And faith. And Love. Notice the capital "L" folks. Love from the Father. Love from the Son. Love overflowing. And there is redemption. There is justice. And there most certainly is Passion.

Don't miss this one y'all.

Great Flick!

Wyatt and watched I really funny movie last, Dan In Real Life. It stars Steve Carell who is pee-in-your-pants funny. I'd say it's cool for teenagers as well as grown ups, but little kids probably wouldn't be interested. And it's just too old for them. Anyway, my favorite parts were the scenes involving the teenage daughters, particularly "I love him, I love him I love him I love HIM!!!" and "You are a murderer of LOVE!" But I don't want to spoil it for you, so I'll hush. Check it out, especially if you have teenage daughters. (Elysa and Jim, this means you. y'all. whatever.)

We are family!